Principal's Message - September 8, 2008

Back to School Night Back to School Night will begin at 6:30 pm on Thursday, September 11 with a general session in the gym for all parents. After the general session, parents will follow their child’s schedule from 7:00 – 8:30 pm. Each teacher will do a twelve minute presentation on the curriculum and expectations for their class. Fifth grade teachers will present information about their classes from 7:00 – 8:00. Zero period classes will meet at 8:30. This evening is an opportunity for you to experience your child’s school day in a reduced format. A blank schedule for the evening is in today’s Backpack Mail. Take a moment to have your child write in their class schedule so you know where to go. Make sure to bring that schedule with you Thursday night. The PTA will be meeting at 8:30 pm in the library to approve their budget. This evening is for the parents at Hall. Therefore, we ask that you leave your children at home to work on their homework. While you will have an opportunity to meet each teacher, this evening is not a time for parent conferences. If you would like to schedule a time to talk with a teacher, you can contact them by email or voicemail and arrange a time at a later date. Additional parking is available at Piper Park.   Online Grade Access All sixth, seventh and eighth grade teachers will be using PowerTeacher as their grading program this year. This means that students and parents will have online access to the grades as they are recorded in the program. The goal of providing this access is to facilitate communication between the school and home regarding student progress. It is our hope that this system will empower students to take responsibility for their own learning and provide families with more regular feedback regarding academic performance. We believe that the focus of the grade information available online should be on individual assignments rather than focusing on overall grades so students and parents can be more aware of their progress. Student and parent access to PowerSchool is not intended to provide “real time” grades. Some lag time will exist between the collection, grading and entering of an assignment into the gradebook. If students or parents have questions about grades and grading, they should contact the teacher directly. If you have not already signed up for access, you will first need to complete and submit the Student/Parent Access to PowerSchool Acceptable Use Policy. It is being sent home today to sixth grade students and is available on our website and in the office. Once we receive your completed form we will issue you a login and password.   - Daniel Norbutas - Hall Principal